Treasure chest

“I have sunken treasure here, I do! But to pluck the plunder, you must open the treasure chests in the right order.”—Signpost, Super Mario 64

Treasure chests (often referred to as treasure boxes) are scattered throughout the levels in many different games. Some hold the most mundane of items while others hold unique items needed to complete a quest.

Treasure chests first appear in Super Mario Bros. 3. They are usually seen inside of Toad Houses, and when opened, reveal a Power-Up that can be used later in the game. In this game, Toad simply refers to them as boxes.

Treasure chests return in New Super Mario Bros. U, where they can be found in Enemy Courses, like the first game. However, they only contain a Starman instead of Toad. If the player takes too long to collect the Starman, Nabbit will appear and steal it. They also appear behind the end-of-level fortresses when the player get the same two digit numbers on the timer and the end of the level. Toad stands behind it and gives what is inside, which is a random item to add to the inventory.

Treasure chests are first seen as projectile objects that can be heaved and thrown in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. They are always placed on the ground, waiting for the characters to use them in certain contexts. They can bear all sorts of items, ranging from banana bunches to Extra Life Balloons, to even Kremkoins. To obtain items from treasure chests, the heroes must throw them into enemies, breaking them apart and releasing the items inside while defeating the enemies in process. Although treasure chests are completely optional in the game, some Bonus Areas require destroying certain treasure chests that hide Kremkoins, which form the primary objective in each of the said levels.

Later in the series, treasure chests are given a more minor role. Similarly to the treasure chests in Donkey Kong Country 2, they contain items of all sorts and values, but are immovable and part of the immediate background, just as with every item container from Donkey Kong Country Returns/3D and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. In these games, treasure chests can be opened by having the ground nearby pounded by the Kongs. In the former game, they are common item containers on the Beach of Donkey Kong Island. However, treasure chests are not as common in Tropical Freeze, as they can only be encountered in special places, like a small bluff in Shoal Atoll, a stage of Sea Breeze Cove, or on the shipwrecks of Seashore War, a level in Donkey Kong Island, which takes place in the Beach world of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

In Wario Land 4, three treasure chests are found in each of the four main boss rooms, embedded into the wall in the background. During the boss battle, when time starts to run low, the Treasure Chests in the background will begin to disappear, one by one. Once Wario defeats the boss, the Treasure Chests that are left over are collected and stored in the Golden Pyramid. When facing the Golden Diva, the last boss, all twelve Treasure Chests can be seen on the background wall. When the Diva is defeated, the total Treasure Chests Wario has at the end of the game will affect how beautiful Princess Shokora is in the ending cut-scene.

In Wario World, each Treasure Chest contains one of Wario's sixty-four treasures. However, each Treasure Chest is linked to a Treasure Button, which must be activated before the treasure can be collected.

In Wario: Master of Disguise, treasure chests are a key element of the game. They come in three colors: red (which hold treasures), green (which hold upgrades like Guise Gems), and purple (which hold key level items, like maps and keys). In order to get the treasures in the chest, the player must win a mini-game, which become harder on later levels. Treasure Pests replace one random red chest starting at the third level, requiring the level to be replayed to get that treasure.

Treasure Chests also appear in Wario Land: Shake It!, where they can be opened with a dash attack. In the level Boogie Mansion, however, the chests are living creatures, which eat Wario if he gets too close to them. Wario must use an explosive to get the treasure inside those living chests.

In the Paper Mario series, Mario can find many treasure chests on his adventures. They contain either Badges or Keys. In very big Treasure Chests, there are weapon upgrades such as Super Boots or Ultra Hammer. In the west room on the first floor of Boo's Mansion, there is a trap treasure chest that when opened, causes the chandelier in the room to drop down. In Chapter 4, Kammy Koopa uses her magic to summon several enemies to guard the treasure chests at the end of the first three areas. At the end of Chapter 5, when Mario and Kolorado escape from Mt. Lavalava with Misstar's help, the treasure chest containing the treasure Kolorado is longing for is blowing out by the lava and lands on Jade Jungle, which the player has to retrieve for Kolorado to proceed in the storyline. There is also a special kind of treasure chest that allows Princess Peach to send Mario badges and a Jammin' Jelly.

There is a treasure chest like box that Peach is given at the very beginning of the game that contains the Magical Map. She is the only one that can open it because it is said that only one that is pure of heart can.

In Super Paper Mario, chests tend to be hidden in places with little accessibility. In order to open a chest, the player needs to move the playable character right beside one and press . Most commonly, Pixls are captured within chests, but players can also find items, cooking ingredients, or Catch Cards in there. In this game, chests adopt a rather abstract design to go along with the game's aesthetics, design that was also used in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

In Luigi's Mansion, treasure chests appear after Luigi beats the ghost(s) in a room. Blue Treasure Chests contain Keys. Green ones contain many Coins, Bills and possibly Gold Bars. If Luigi defeats an optional gallery ghost, he will also receive a green chest with a Silver Diamond inside, among other treasures. Red Treasure Chests contain Mario's dropped Items that need to be taken to Madame Clairvoya. There are many red Treasure Chests in the Hidden and Sealed Rooms as well, though many in the former contain ghosts. A white chest exists in the Tea Room, containing the Ice Elemental Medal. There are also gold chests revealed after defeating bosses, which contain area Keys.

In the past Bowser's Castle in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, there is a treasure chest reminiscent of the ones from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars near the Time Hole containing one of the six Cobalt Star shards. After hitting the chest, however, it disappears.

Treasure chests make various appearances throughout the minigames of Mario Party. One minigame, Buried Treasure, involves players searching for a treasure chest. In Slot Machine, lining up three treasure chests grants the player 10 coins.

In Mario Party 7, treasure chests come into play on the Neon Heights board. There are initially three of them in play, spaced out at random spots along the board. One chest contains a Star, another holds twenty coins, while the other houses a Bob-omb. Koopa Kid guards the chests, but can be bribed into awarding the contents of one in exchange for ten coins. If the Bob-omb is found, the player (or team) will be blown back to the start of the board. If the Star is found, a new chest containing a Star will appear elsewhere on the board. The other two chests will then be shuffled around as well, or added to the board if they've already been claimed. There is also a Bowser Time event exclusive to Neon Heights in which Bowser will steal either a Star from the lead player, or ten coins from each player, then order Koopa Kid to stash what was stolen in the chest that already contains either the Star or twenty coins, which can them be recollected by whoever opens the respective chest. There is also the Neon Heights-exclusive Lakitu Orb. Using it will trigger Lakitu, who will select a chest at random and bring it to the player, who can open it on the spot without having to pay Koopa Kid. Treasure Chests also appear in the Single-Player Bowser Mini-Game Treasure Dome where players must open each chest by using a key.

Treasure chests appear in the Smash Run mode in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, having the same design as the ones that appear in Kid Icarus: Uprising. These chests can contain stat boosts, trophies, gold, powers, and custom parts (either custom special moves or equipment). Mimicuties, fake treasure chest enemies from Kid Icarus: Uprising, also appear as enemies in the Smash Run mode.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, treasure chests appear in the Special Orders mode, with an original design. In Master Orders, a treasure chest appears alongside Master Hand, which opens and gives the player a reward if they clear the ticket, and disappears if they fail. In Crazy Orders, Crazy Hand drops treasure chests containing random rewards as the player damages him during the final battle; these rewards cannot be seen until after the battle.